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Wednesday, 13 April 2016

Inky the Octopus makes a great escape

An
octopus has escaped from the national aquarium in New Zealand by breaking out
of its tank, slithering down a 50-metre drainpipe and into the sea.

Inky (pictured left) – a common New Zealand octopus – made his dash for freedom in the middle of the
night after the lid of his tank was accidentally left slightly ajar.

One
theory is that Inky slid across the aquarium floor – a journey of three or four
metres – and then, sensing freedom was close, slipped into the 50m drainpipe that lead directly to the
sea on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Another
possible escape route could have involved Inky squeezing into an open pipe at
the top of his tank, which led under the floor to the drain.

Inky
was brought to the national aquarium a number of years ago by a local fisherman
who found him caught in a crayfish pot. He was in a bad way - scarred and ‘rough
looking’, with shortened limbs.

Although
the aquarium is not actively searching for a replacement for Inky, if a
fisherman brought in another octopus it might be willing to take it on.

“You
never know,” said Rob Yarrell, national manager of the National Aquarium of New
Zealand in Napier. “There’s always a chance Inky could come home to us.”

Octopuses
are known for being escape artists. Because they have no bones they are able to
fit into extremely small spaces and have been filmed squeezing through gaps the
size of coins. They are also understood to be extremely intelligent and capable
of using tools.

At
the Island Bay marine education centre in Wellington, an octopus was found to
be in the habit of visiting another tank overnight to steal crabs, then
returning to its own.